G. D. Birla

2021-11-23T10:32:11Z

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{{Short description|Indian businessman}}
{{more footnotes|date=January 2008}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ghanshyam Das Birla
| honorific_suffix =
| image = GDBIRLAUCOBANK.jpg
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 10 April 1894
| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|6|11|1894|4|10|df=y}}
| relatives = see [[Birla family]]
}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
[[File:G. D. Birl, posing next to a bust of his father, at his palacial home in 1946.jpg|thumb|G. D. Birla in 1946]]
'''Ghanshyam Das Birla''' (10 April 1894 – 11 June 1983) was an Indian businessman and member of the [[Birla Family]].

==Birla family history==
Ghanshyam Das Birla was born on 10 April 1894 at [[Pilani]] town in Jhunjhunu district, in the Indian state then known as [[Rajputana]], as a member of the [[Maheshwari]] [[Marwari people|Marwari]] community.<ref name="ODNB">{{ODNBweb|id=52776|title=Birla, Ghanshyam Das (1894–1983), businessman and politician in India}}</ref> His father was [[Baldeo Das Birla|Raja Baldevdas Birla]]. In 1884 A.D. Baldeo Das Birla went to [[Bombay]] in search of new avenues of trade. He established his firm Shiv Narian Baldeo Das in Bombay in 1884 and Baldeo Das Jugal Kishore in 1897 in [[Calcutta]]. The firms started business in silver, cotton, grain and other commodities. He was succeeded by 4 sons, Jugal Kishore, Rameshwar Das, Ghanshyam Das and Braj Mohan. Ghanshyam Das was the most successful of the four brothers.

==Business of Birla family==
GD Birla inherited the [[family business]] and moved to further diversify them into other areas. Of these, at least three contemporary family business groups existing in India today can trace their ancestry to him. Of these businesses, he wanted to turn the moneylending business into manufacturing. So he left for [[Calcutta]] in [[Bengal Presidency]], the world's largest [[jute]] producing region. There, he began "[i]ndependently as a jute broker".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Purie|first1=Aroon|last2=Dubashi|first2=Jay|date=5 March 2014|title=I am not a businessman|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/i-have-been-a-student-all-my-life-g.d.-birla/1/427269.html|magazine=India Today|access-date=28 January 2017}}</ref> In 1918, he established Birla Jute Mills, much to the consternation of established European merchants, whom the biased policies of the British government favoured other than the local [[Bengali people|Bengali]] merchants. He had to scale a number of obstacles as the British and Scottish merchants tried to shut his business by unethical and monopolistic methods,{{Citation needed|reason=Statements without support are no more than allegations and could be slanderous. Citation is needed|date=November 2021}} but he was able to persevere. When [[World War I]] resulted in supply problems throughout the British Empire, Birla's business skyrocketed.

[[File:G._D._Birla,_Vallabhbhai_Patel,_and_Manibehn_Patel.jpg|thumbnail|G. D. Birla with [[Vallabhbhai Patel]], and Patel's daughter in the background, at Birla's residence, 1946. The statue is of Raja Baldeo Das Birla in Rajasthani turban]]
With an investment of {{INR}}5 million {{Citation needed|reason=INR 5 million in 1919 is a lot of money. Citation is needed|date=April 2017}} in 1919, the Birla Brothers Limited was formed. A mill was set up in [[Gwalior]] in the same year.

In 1926, he was elected to the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] of [[British India]].<ref name=ODNB/> He became the founding president of [[Harijan Sevak Sangh]] founded by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in Delhi in 1932 .<ref name="Revankar1971">{{cite book|author=Ratna G. Revankar|title=The Indian Constitution--: A Case Study of Backward Classes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukZRZk_ttYcC&pg=PA124|date= 1971|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press|isbn=978-0-8386-7670-7|pages=124–}}</ref>

In the 1940s, he ventured into the territory of cars and established [[Hindustan Motors]]. After independence, Birla invested in tea and textiles through a series of acquisitions of erstwhile European companies. He also expanded and diversified into cement, chemicals, rayon and steel tubes. Ghanshyam Das Birla during the [[Quit India Movement]] of 1942, had conceived the idea of organising a commercial bank with Indian capital and management, and the United Commercial Bank Limited was incorporated to give shape to that idea. [[UCO Bank]], formerly United Commercial Bank, established in 1943 in Kolkata, is one of the oldest and major commercial bank of India.

==Philanthropy==
[[File:Ghanshyam Das Birla 1984 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|Birla on a 1984 stamp of India]]
[[File:Statue of Ghanshyam Das Birla (Golders Green Crematorium).jpg|thumb|The statue of Ghanshyam Das Birla at [[Golders Green Crematorium]]]]
Envisioning infrastructural development in his hometown, Birla founded the [[Birla Institute of Technology and Science|Birla Engineering College]] (rechristened as [[Birla Institute of Technology and Science]] in 1964) in [[Pilani]] and the [[Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences]] in [[Bhiwani]] among other educational institutions in 1943. Both colleges have evolved over the years to develop into one of India's best engineering schools. Now Pilani also houses Birla Public School, a famous residential public school named after Birla's family and a number of polytechnic colleges. The town of [[Pilani]] and the local population enjoy a highly symbiotic relationship with these institutions, thereby stepping towards realising Birla's dream. TIT&S also evolved as the Center of Excellence in Textile based education and training. Moreover, G.D. Birla Memorial School, [[Ranikhet]], a premier residential school has also been established in his honour by his son [[B.K. Birla]] and is today one of the best residential schools in the country and The Birla School in [[Kalyan]], India was founded by his efforts with the collaboration of Kalyan Citizens' Education Society (KCES).

In 1957, he was awarded [[India]]'s second-highest civilian honour, the [[Padma Vibhushan]] by the [[Government of India]].

Ghanshyam Das Birla died in London on 11 June 1983 at the age of 89. There is a memorial to him in [[Golders Green Crematorium]], Hoop Lane, [[London]]. It comprises a large statue overlooking the gardens with an inscription.

==Relationship with Mahatma Gandhi ==
Birla was a close associate and a steady supporter of [[Mahatma Gandhi]], whom he met for the first time in 1916. Gandhi stayed at Birla's home in [[New Delhi]] during the last four months of his life.

==Legacy==
G. D. Birla had remarried after the death of his first wife. He had three sons, Lakshmi Nivas (son of his first wife Durga Devi), [[Krishna Kumar Birla|Krishna Kumar]] and [[Basant Kumar Birla|Basant Kumar]], (both sons of his second wife Mahadevi Birla). [[Kumar Mangalam Birla]] is his great grandson. Lakshmi Nivas was technically adapted by his older brother Jugal Kishor.

==Writings by Ghanshyam Das Birla==
His writings are mainly collections of memoirs, letters, essays and lectures.
* डायरी के कुछ पन्ने (Diary Ke Kuch Panne or Some pages of diary), 1940
* रुपए की कहानी (Rupaye Ki Kahani or Story of Rupee), 1948
* बापू (Bapu), 1941
* कुछ देखा कुछ सुना (Kuch Dekha Kuch Suna or Saw Something Heard Something), 1966
* जमनालाल बजाज ([[Jamnalal Bajaj]])
* ध्रुवोपाख्यान, 1960
* रूप और स्वरूप : चार विचार-प्रेरक निबंध, 1960
* Paths to Prosperity, 1950
* In the Shadow of the Mahatma: a personal memoir (Calcutta, 1953)

==Further reading==
*Jajni, R. N., ''G. D. Birla'' (New Delhi, 1985)
*Ross, A., ''The Emissary: G. D. Birla, Gandhi and Independence'' (1986)

==See also==
*[[Basant Kumar Birla]], his son
*[[Birla Family]]
*[[Birla Vidya Mandir]]
*[[G.D.Birla Centre For Education]]
*[[G D Birla Memorial School]]
*[[Birla Education Trust]]
*[[Birla Senior Secondary School ]]
*[[Birla Public School]]
*[[Birla Balika Vidyapeeth]]
*[[Birla Shishu Vihar]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/17338/ Rs 2.80 Billion BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus Foundation Laid]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090503081424/http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/education/200704282735.htm AP CM Readies BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220126/http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=42869 Milestone for BITS Pilani Hyderabad]
*[http://www.prlog.org/10015165-chief-minister-ap-lays-the-bits-pilani-hyderabad-campus-foundation-stone.html Chief Minister AP Lays the BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus Foundation]
*[http://www.openpr.com/news/19598/BITS-Pilani-Makes-the-Right-Move-at-the-Right-Time.html BITS Pilani Makes the Right Move at the Right Time]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090218234426/http://www.india-today.com/itoday/millennium/100people/birla.html People who shaped India]
*[http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/fundamental_workdetail/MzktNzY=#page/1/mode/2up In the Shadow of the Mahatma] by Ghanshyam Das Birla

{{Aditya Birla Group}}
{{Birla Institute of Technology & Science}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birla, G D}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:Rajasthani people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in trade & industry]]
[[Category:Birla family|G.D.]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:Members of Central Legislative Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Delhi]]
[[Category:People from Jhunjhunu district]]
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Rajasthan]]

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G. D. Birla